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Study blames pot farms for poisoning of endangered owls

FILE - In this May 8, 2003, file photo, a Northern Spotted Owl flies after an elusive mouse jumping off the end of a stick in the Deschutes National F

FILE - In this May 8, 2003, file photo, a northern spotted owl sits on a tree branch in the Deschutes National Forest near Camp Sherman, Ore. A federa

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rat poison is contaminating endangered northern spotted owls in California forests, and marijuana farms appear to be to blame, according to a study published Thursday.

The study published in the journal Avian Conservation and Ecology focused on owls in Northern California's Humboldt, Mendocino and Del Norte counties, part of the so-called Emerald Triangle, where remote farms — many in old-growth forests — produce much of the marijuana grown for the U.S. black market.

Researchers from the University of California, Davis, and the California Academy of Sciences tested 10 northern spotted owls found dead in the region. Seven of the endangered owls tested positive for rat poison, used by pot farmers to keep rodents away from their irrigation systems and crops.

Forty percent of another species, barred owls, also tested positive for the rat poison.

Tissue samples of the barred owls were provided by researchers carrying out a different study, the scientists said. The species, originally from the U.S. East, are considered an invasive species in the Northwest and a threat to spotted owls.

Study lead author Mourad Gabriel earlier carried out similar research linking rat poison used by clandestine marijuana farms to the deaths of endangered fishers, a weasel-like forest predator.

Gabriel says he's concerned that the poisoning of wildlife will increase now that recreational marijuana is legal in California, potentially driving the proliferation of pot farms.

California officials argue that legalization will allow them to increase oversight and regulation of cannabis farms in fragile forests.